New Beginings
by Purplestripe66
Summary: After CtD, when the Astro Rangers return to Earth, Karone tries to adjust to her new life. Karone/Zhane, some Andros/Ashley
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The Power Rangers are not mine. I in no way profit from this fic. It is written for entertainment purposes only.

Karone stood on the beach, barefoot, in the lavender sun dress Ashley had bought her, the water barely reaching her toes. Her eyes where closed, but the light of the full moon was so bright she could still see it. She stood, motionless, listening to the sound of the ocean.

It was over. She still couldn't get her mind around that. She honestly didn't know what to feel first. Fear? Relief? Sadness? Those first few moments after she'd awaken had been filled with only confusion. She hadn't been able to remember anything then. On the way back to KO-35, the memories started coming back. Slowly. She had spent most of the voyage in the infirmary trying to convince DECA and her brother that she was fine.

On KO-35, she had been to busy to think, she had told her story a dozen times, or, more accurately, she had listened to Andros tell it. She could tell that he didn't quite trust people's reactions to the fact that the former Princess of Evil was his sister. They seemed to take the news better from him, whether because he was a ranger, or her brother, she didn't know.

She had been disappointed when there had been no news of their parents. But Andros assured her that that wasn't a bad thing. Only a small number of people had returned, and most of them hadn't had any contact with each other over the past two years. Then, of course, was the moment when Andros had decided to return to Earth with Ashley. She could tell how much he cared for her, how much the thought of spending his life without her hurt him, and she couldn't help but be swept up in his joy.

At that time, she honestly hadn't thought of what going back to Earth would mean. She hadn't thought of all the people who had seen her transform from Astronema, of how people would react to knowing the identities of the rangers. Ashley told her that they where lucky that no one knew that she, Andros, and Zhane where from another planet.

They had left Earth early in the evening, and returned the next afternoon. Karone had now spent only a little over a day on the planet, and already she knew that coming here had been a mistake. But staying on KO-35 without her brother wouldn't have been the best idea either. He was all she had. Now.

She sighed softly as she thought of Ecliptor. Andros had told her what had happened only last night. She hadn't understood it then, and she still didn't. She had been told that anyone with good in them had been purified by Zordon's wave, not destroyed by it. How could Ecliptor had been destroyed? She was the first to admit that he had been evil, but how could anyone claim that he didn't have any good in him? He had raised her from a child, regardless of what the circumstances where. He had always protected her, he had been willing to sacrifice himself so that she could escape.

Karone felt a tear slide down her cheek. She hadn't allowed herself to cry yet, but she didn't think she could hold it in for much longer. If she was going to break down, she didn't want it to be in front of the rangers.

A communicator beeped.

Karone sighed, raising the device the rangers had given her, "Yes?"

"Karone, you should come back to the ship. There is word from KO-35," Alpha's voice told her.  


Karone opened her eyes reluctantly. "I'll be right there," she told him, nodding absently. She took one last look out at the ocean, the first ocean she had seen since she was a little girl. She wished she could never leave here. That she could just stand at the edge of the waves forever, not having to deal with everything around her. But she knew she couldn't.

Karone pressed a button on the communicator, and in an instant was transported away in a flash of violet light.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still don't own the Power Rangers. That honor belongs to Disney.

That had been a complete waste of time. Karone sighed, walking through the Megaship corridors aimlessly. Kinwon had called to give them a status update of the recolonization, and to tell them that they hadn't received any word of her and Andros' parents yet.

Andros could have easily relayed that over the communicator, or waited until she got back to the ship. Karone debated going back to the beach, but it just didn't seem worth it. It would be dawn in a few hours anyway, she should probably try to get some sleep.

But a few minutes later, Karone found herself outside the door to her brother's room. Andros was still on the bridge, she knew that, so there was no sense in knocking. "DECA," she asked softly, "is Andros' room locked?"

"No" DECA said simply. Karone took that as permission to go inside. She knew that the ranges' quarters where private, but she hoped Andros wouldn't mind.

The lights turned on automatically when she entered the room. It was similar to her own in design, and there wasn't much more in the way of decoration. The one exception being the photographs, the same ones both she and Andros carried in their lockets.

Karone walked over to the dresser and opened the top drawer. She smiled seeing the Digi-album was sill there. Andros had showed it to her the first time she was here, before she had been captured again.

Karone sighed softly, sitting down on Andros' bed and started flipping through the photos to find her favorite one: a family portrait. She smiled sadly, touching the image of her mother's face. Andros had been right, there was a definite similarity between them. she wondered if her mother would recognize her. Karone closed here eyes, more importantly, she wondered if they could forgive her. She didn't really expect them too. But Andros had. And she hadn't expected him to either. She sighed. She just hoped she would have the chance to see her parents again, to have the chance to apologize for everything she had done as Astronema.

She shifted further onto the bed, leaning back against the wall. She wanted to look through more photos, but she really didn't want to invade his privacy any more than she already had. He had only showed her a few pictures last time, and she didn't know what else he had stored in the Digi-album.

She settled for looking through the few that she had already seen. They where mostly of her and Andros as children, all probably taken within a year or so before she was kidnaped. What would things have been like if she had grown up on KO-35? "Different," she said to herself quietly, "better."

It was amazing how much the air could cool down in just a few hours. Karone sat on a large rock on the beach, staring out over the waves. It was just before dawn. She had never watched the sunrise before. At least, not from the surface of a planet. And it was certainly different from space.

The wind had picked up quite a bit, adding to the chill in the air. Karone pulled her jacket tighter around her. She had considered going to an eastern coast line, so she could see the sun come up over the water, but it felt like it was too far away. That was ridiculous of course, DECA could teleport her to any point on the planet in only a few 

seconds. And with the ship in orbit around Earth, there couldn't be any place that was closer. Still, anything outside of Angel Grove seemed foreign and far.

It probably would have been safer to go somewhere else, even one of the small uninhabited islands of the planet, or one of the more primitive nations, where she was less likely to be recognized.

Karone sighed, watching the grayness start to turn blue. She more felt than heard someone coming up behind her. She turned around slowly, "What are you doing up so early?"

"Worrying about you," Zhane said, sitting down on the rock next to her. "DECA told me you hadn't been to bed all night."

"I couldn't sleep," she told him.

"It's not what you thought it'd be, is it?"

Karone shook her head, "I don't know what I thought it'd be like. I guess I didn't think about it," she admitted.

"Regretting coming here?" Zhane asked in his usual light-hearted way, but his eyes where serious.

Karone didn't say anything. They both knew she hadn't really had a choice.

"We can go back to KO-35 if you want." Karone almost smiled, if she didn't know any better, she'd swear Zhane was able to read her mind.

She shook her head, "I couldn't ask that of Andros. I know how hard it was for him to leave, but he did it because he loves her. I could never ask him to give that up for me."

Karone could feel Zhane watching her. She looked up at the sky, the stars where fading quickly now, only the brightest still shown in the now bright blue sky. The first rays of the sun would break over the horizon behind her any minute now.

"It won't be like this forever you know. People will get tired of us soon enough," he said grinning. When she didn't say anything, Zhane put an arm around her. Karone closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder.

She trusted Zhane, she had trusted him even before she had found out about Andros. She had hated herself for that when she had still been Astronema, for the feelings she had for him, for making herself vulnerable like that. Now, she was grateful for it.

Zhane smiled as he felt Karone's breathing slow to a steady rhythm. He was having a hard time adjusting to this life, he could only imagine what she was going through. Carefully, he leaned down to kiss the top of her head as the first rays of the sun spilled out behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Disney owns the Power Rangers, not me.  
A/N: Thanks to **phantomblue** for helping me finally decide what Karone does.

Seagulls. She heard seagulls. Why were there seagulls in her room, Karone wondered. A cool breeze blew across her face, making it obvious just how warm it was. She obviously wasn't in her room. Karone opened her eyes, wondering where she was, or even where she was supposed to be.

"Good morning," a voice said from above her.

Karone looked up, startled, "Zhane. Where..."

Zhane smiled, stroking her hair, "We're at the beach."

"Mh, right," Karone blinked away the sleepiness. She was lying on the beach, with her head in Zhane's lap. She didn't get up, she just lay there for a minute, gazing up at him. She trusted him. She had always trusted him.

And it was that thought that reminded her of everything that had happened. Those first few moments when she had woken up had been filled with a blissful oblivion. The moments before her logical mind reminded her that there was no logical reason why she should be lying in Zhane's lap on the beach if her life was still normal, that she wasn't Astronema anymore, that she was Karone, that her life had been turned upside down three times before she even knew what was happening.

She sighed, "What time is it?"

Zhane frowned, "Hey what's wrong?"

"You mean besides everything?" she asked, sitting up.

Zhane reached out to stroke her hair, "You want to get some breakfast?"

Karone smiled, only because she knew that Zhane wouldn't see. She liked that he knew when not to press the issue, "Is it still breakfast time?"

Zhane looked at his watch, "It's only a bit after ten, you didn't sleep long. Unless you want to go back to the ship to get some rest. I don't know if I'm very comfortable."

"You are," she said, turning around to face him, unable to completely wipe the smile from her face.

"Well that's good to know," Zhane said smugly.

Karone smacked him in the arm playfully, giggling. Zhane stood up, helping her to her feet. She shrugged her jacket off, and smoothed out her sun dress. Then she frowned, looking up at the sky, "I missed the sunrise."

Zhane smiled. "We can watch it tomorrow," he promised, putting an arm around her as they started towards Angel Grove.

The second they even neared the town, it was obvious people were staring. The beach had been deserted enough that they had been able to avoid any attention. But as they walked down the streets of Angel Grove, it was impossible not to notice the staring and whispering.

Zhane would wave and grin at people, which usually embarrassed them enough to look away. But Karone couldn't even look up. She was used to people starring at her, of course, even being afraid of her, but she had never felt badly about it before.

"Zhane, maybe we should just go back to the ship," she said quietly.

"Don't be silly," Zhane insisted. But his ever present cheerfulness and confidence didn't do much to reassure her. They walked the few blocks to the Surf Spot. It was fairly empty, as it usually was in the mornings. Karone was grateful for that at least.

She tried to avoid the stares of the few people that were there. "So, what are you in the mood for?" Zhane asked.

Karone shook her head, "I don't know. I still haven't gotten used to this Earth food." She noticed Zhane's expression change as he stared at something behind her. She frowned, turning around to see what had drawn his attention.

Two guys from another table were heading towards them. Both were staring at her, irate looks on their faces. Karone suppressed a sigh, she could tell this wasn't going to end well.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" one of them demanded, staring down at her.

Karone fought the urge to accept the challenge. She would have never allowed someone to speak to her like that as Astronema.

"We're having breakfast," Zhane said, still with a smile, but an obvious warning tone in his voice.

"Not you," the guy said, glancing at Zhane before continuing to glare at Karone, "her. You have some nerve to show your face here. How dare you?"

Karone didn't say anything. She kept her gaze on a random spot on the wall. She knew what he was saying was true, that he had the right to confront her for everything she had done. Still, she had to strain to not defend herself. "I think you should leave now," Zhane told them standing up.

One of them looked like he was about the back down, but the other kept his gaze fixed on Karone, "We're not going anywhere. This is our planet. She's the one who tried to take over, she 's the one who tried to kill all of us. She needs to get the fuck off of Earth or-"

"Hey!" Zhane cut him off, putting himself between him and Karone, "that's enough."

"How can you defend her?" He demanded, raising his voice. "She tried to kill you too!"

"You don't know as much as you think you do. So I think you'd better leave now," Zhane said cooly.

"What is going on out here?" Adele demanded coming out of the back room. One glance at the scene apparently told her everything she needed to know. "I think you boys better leave now," she told them sternly.

"Us?!" the other guy shouted. "You'd kick _us_ out for _her_? Has everyone here completely lost it? Just because the Power Rangers were stupid enough to believe that she'd turned good doesn't mean we should."

Zhane glared at him, every ounce of his normal cheerful demeanor gone, "You need to leave, now."

"And you," the first guy said, "You're the worst of all of them. You're willing to sell out this whole planet just to sleep with her."

That was as much as she could take. Karone stood up suddenly, shoving her chair back, "You will _not_ speak to him like that."

Both guys tensed visibly as Karone took a step towards them. "And you will not speak about the rangers like that," she didn't bother raising her voice, she didn't need too. "You owe them your lives, many times over, and this is how you show your gratitude? Get out," she demanded, pointing towards the door.

Before they had a chance to move, purple lightning shot from Karone's hand, towards the two of them, and sent them flying to the door. Karone stared, bewildered, as they picked themselves up and scrambled out if the building.

She glanced down at her hand. "I didn't think..." she trailed off.

"Well serves them right," Adele said behind her. Karone turned around, startled. "They had it coming if you ask me," Adele frowned at Karone's expression. "Why don't you sit down. Breakfast'll be on me."

"Thanks Adele," Zhane said reluctantly after a moment, "but I think we're gonna head back to the ship."

Adele nodded, "All right. But don't you listen to people like that. You're welcome here anytime you like."

"Thank you," Karone said softly. She tried to smile, but she was still to stunned. She let Zhane lead her out of the Surf Spot. Despite the fact that everyone knew their identities now, they would still go to a secluded spot to teleport.

"Are you ok?" Zhane asked her when they were alone in the entry room.

"I didn't think I could still do that," she told him, still looking stunned. "I-I didn't mean to," she added suddenly, fear creeping into her voice.

"Hey, I know that. It's ok. Do you want to go back to the ship?" he asked after a minute.

Karone nodded quickly.

"Are you sure, we don't have to-"  


"No, I want to," she said, not waiting for him to finish.

"Ok," Zhane told her, holding out his hand. He pulled out his Digimorpher, teleporting them both back to the Megaship.


	4. Chapter 4

Rated: K+  
Ships: Karone/Zhane  
Disclaimer: Neither Power Rangers, Disney, nor any of it's affiliates belong to me. This is obvious, right?

**New Beginnings: Chapter 4**

Karone sat on her bed on the Megaship, hugging her knees to her chest. She hadn't bothered to turn on the lights when she came in. She ignored the soft knock at her door. Another came a minute later, then another. She put her head down on her knees, hoping that whoever it was would just go away.

"Karone, Zhane wishes to speak to you," DECA announced.

Karone still didn't say anything. After she didn't hear anything for a few minutes, she actually believed that he had left.

Then the door opened.

Karone hugged her knees tighter to her chest, not looking up.

"Hey," she heard Zhane say quietly, sitting down next to her. "Are you ok?" he asked after a minute. Karone still didn't say anything. Zhane sighed, "Karone, you've been in here for hours. I know you're upset, but those guys are gonna be ok you know. You had every right to do what you did. They had no right to speak to you like that."

Zhane sighed again when she still didn't respond, "It's just going to take some time for the Earthians to adjust. Everything's gonna be ok."

"I'm still her," Karone whispered.

"What?" Zhane asked gently.

"I'm still her," she said louder.

"No you're not," he said touching her arm.

"Then how do you explain what happened today?" she snapped at him. Karone immediately realized what she had done and put her head back on her knees, "See?"

"Karone-"

"Don't call me that" she said, not lifting her head.

"Then what should I call you?" Zhane asked. Karone could hear a smile in his voice. He wasn't taking her seriously.

"I don't deserve to be called that. I don't deserve to be here," she said, the tears slipping from her eyes again. She had just managed to stop too.

"Come on," Zhane said, standing up.

"No," Karone said plainly.

"Come on, you can't just sit here all day."

Karone sniffled, "I'm not going back down there."

Zhane paused for a moment, "We don't have to. Come on," he coaxed.

Karone sighed, finally lifting her head. She looked at him for a long while before finally giving a small nod. Zhane grinned, pulling her off the bed before she had anymore time to think about it.

She let him drag her out of her room and to the Megalift. The door had just opened when DECA spoke, "Karone, you are needed on the bridge."

Karone sighed. "Now?" Zhane whined.

"It is urgent."

Zhane looked at Karone, she shrugged slightly. "All right," he sighed, following Karone into the Megalift. DECA took them to the bridge without instruction. "What's going on?" he asked, when the doors opened.

Ashley sat at her station with Andros leaned over her console, and TJ and Carlos standing on the other side. Andros stood up, turning around, "Karone." He seemed almost surprised to see her.

Karone looked at Zhane, "Um, DECA said you wanted to see me?" she said, trying to hide how upset she was.

"We received a transmission," Andros said nervously, after a moment. "We're trying to determine it's origin."

"What?" Karone asked, genuinely confused. Why would they need her for this?

Andros sighed, "It's addressed to you."

"From who?" she asked, worried. Andros clearly hesitated. "Andros."

"It looks like it's from Ecliptor," TJ told her finally.

Karone froze, her eyes going wide, "W-What?"

Andros glared at him, "We wanted to be sure first, but..." he trailed off.

"But..." she looked between her brother and the others. "Where'd it come from?" she asked, suddenly far more assertive. All her doubts, fears, and insecurities forgotten. She was fully aware of just how much she resembled Astronema at the moment. And the fact that she had just been crying about that very thing was not lost on her.

But she didn't care about that now. She loved Andros. And she was enormously happy to have found him. But Ecliptor was like a father to her. He had raised her, protected her, taught her everything she knew. He had risked his life for her back on Yutoba, and ultimately lost it. Or so she had thought. If there was any chance that he was still alive, she would stop at nothing to find him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Rated:** K+  
**  
A/N:**Thanks to **challon86** and **tsukinoakume** for their help on this.

**Disclaimer:** Power Rangers belongs to Disney. I am in no way claiming ownership or making profit off of this or any other fic.

* * *

**New Beginnings: Chapter 5**

Karone sat on the bridge alone, staring at the console. She reread the message for what must have been the hundredth time.

_"My Princess, meet me in the place I trained you. If you do not come in two Earth days, I will come for you."_

"Hey," a voice said softly from behind her.

Karone jumped, standing up quickly. She had to stop herself from summoning her staff. Karone sighed. _I am still her_ she thought.

Ashley frowned, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said, trying not to sound like Astronema. She failed.

Ashley pretended not to notice, "You should really get some sleep. You've been staring at that message all day."

"_No_ one knows about Galia," Karone said, sitting back down.

"Karone, Andros was there. He saw-"

"I know!" she snapped. Karone sighed, forcing herself to calm down again, "Who else would send this? If Zordon's wave destroyed all evil, then who could..." she trailed off. _Not all evil_, she thought, suppressing another sigh. _Not me_.

She glanced up when she realized Ashley hadn't said anything for a minute. "He's not evil," she said quietly, knowing what she was thinking. Ashley still didn't say anything. Karone sighed, she honestly never thought she would be trying to convince someone of this, that she would even believe it. But she knew it was true, "He saved me Ashley. He risked his life to save me. He was willing to sacrifice himself. He wouldn't do that if he was evil."

"Karone," Ashley said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We are approaching the planet Galia," DECA announced suddenly.

Karone jumped out of her chair, rushing past Ashley, towards the Megalift. "Karone, wait!" Ashley called after her.

Karone hesitated. She regretted it instantly as Ashley hurried over, getting in between her and the Megalift, "Ashley-"

"Karone, you can't go down there alone."

"Ashley, I told you, he's-"

"You don't even know if it is Ecliptor. Karone, anyone could have sent that message. You could be walking right into a trap."

She looked away for a second. "I can take care of myself," she told her suddenly, pushing past her.

"Karone," Ashley said, following her into the Megalift. "I'm not saying you shouldn't go, just take some precautions, ok?"

The doors opened on Deck 6. Karone just stood there, looking out at the corrode.

"Wait until the morning, ok? We'll all go."

"Then what?" Karone asked, still looking out at the corridor. "I know how you feel Ashley, and I can't blame you. But he's my family Ashley."

Ashley was silent for a minute, "This is why we need to talk about this. _All_ of us." She put her arm around Karone's shoulders. "Promise me you'll wait until morning. DECA can do scans of the planet, to make sure it's not an ambush, and we'll all talk about it in the morning, ok?"

Karone didn't say anything. She had done her best to avoid that conversation, but she knew that it was inevitable. "All right," she said finally.

* * *

"I thought we weren't supposed to reach Galia until this afternoon?" Carlos said sleepily.

"I kinda asked DECA to go to make us go faster," Karone said guiltily.

TJ raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything. Ashley came over, bringing a pitcher of orange juice, and sat down next to Andros.

Karone looked around the table, everyone was eating in silence. She wondered if they were avoiding the subject or if they just hadn't thought if it yet. She pushed her scrambled eggs around her plate for a minute before taking a deep breath, "Ashley convinced me to wait till this morning, so what are we doing?"

The other rangers looked at each other uncomfortable. "Karone," Andros started.

"I know Andros," she said, knowing exactly what he was going to say. "Look, I know how all of you feel, but Ecliptor's my family. What would you do if it was one of you? Wouldn't you do anything you could?"

She sighed when no one said anything. "I'm going. I'd like your support, but I'm going no matter what," she said quietly, starting at her eggs.

"Karone," Andros said, putting his hand on hers. "Of course we support you." She looked up at him. "We came out here, didn't we?"

Karone blinked, "Really?" she asked softly. She looked at Andros, then at the others.

"Of course we do," Zhane said, putting an arm around her

"Yeah, you're one of us now," Carlos agreed.

"I told you last night we'd help you," Ashley reminded her.

Karone looked at them for another minute. Then she smiled, "Really?" She blushed a little at the the nods and agreements of the rangers. "Thank you," she said, tears starting to fill her eyes.

Zhane squeezed her shoulders, and Andros hugged her from the other side. Ashley giggled, getting up to hug her too. A minute later, they where all engaged in a disorderly group hug with Karone at the center.


End file.
